Cleaning and a sprain

After days on end of keeping a mouse trap set, we still haven't caught that rodent. My husband laughed at my ordeal and thought it was the funniest thing to bring a broom with me to bed. I guess I get a little more shook up about a mouse than he does.

I still think of it every time I walk into the bedroom. But he says I scared that little thing so bad he doubts it will be back. I am wanting to believe that, but there are more droppings so I know it still resides somewhere in the house.

Today I noticed terds by the stairsteps and I knew I had to clean. I started with the laundry and got that cleaned up. No sightings there. But it is wonderful to have it clean, if only for a short while. With yesterday's snow of 3½ inches, they'll be mud when that melts.

We moved all the furniture in the living room and cleaned under the sofa pillows. I like to do that once a month anyway, so it wasn't too bad. But I didn't like all the signs behind the big couch. I noticed cracker crumbs, of all things. No wonder the critter wasn't hungry for peanut butter. We wiped the walls, baseboard and carpet. Whew! The house was getting a good spring cleaning!

The girls helped with the small hall closet. I like to keep a fabric softener sheet in there. I read it deters mice. I think the old one was no longer working as the smell was gone from being in there for months. Nice fresh closet now.

Next was the bedroom. The girls got all the stuff out from under the bed. I don't like storing things there, but I have no other choice here. Allison helped me with the mattress. As we lifted it, I lost my balance. But my subconscious mind told me it's OK to let myself fall on the soft mattress. Wrong! I landed on my thumb onto the boxspring, my thumb taking the brunt of my weight. Allison said it looked so funny. But it didn't feel funny - my thumb hurt so bad!

I know it's not broken, because I can move it any direction. But the sprain completely halted me from finishing the cleaning. Bless Allison's heart, she finished cleaning our room. The house has a wonderful sense of clean.

Though a sprain cripples you for a short while, it's nothing compared to all the amputees in Haiti. I praise the Lord for being so good to us, and pray for all those whose lives have been radically changed in the blink of an eye. My heart goes out to all those dear people.